


Only Time Will Tell If You're Alive

by SkyFallSlayer



Series: I Hold No Heartbeat [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Big Brother Jean Havoc, But it never happens, Ed & Al have a sister, Gen, Girl Vigilanti, Heavy Angst, Hurt Alphonse Elric, Hurt Edward Elric, Hurt/Comfort, Mama bear Hawkeye, Mentions of rape & non con, Original Character(s), Parental Maes Hughes, Parental Riza Hawkeye, Parental Roy Mustang, Protective OC, Protective Roy Mustang, Protective Siblings, Roy and Layla are like father and daughter, Roy loves his three kids, Team as Family, Vigilantism, platonic & family love, protective team mustang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:06:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25353706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyFallSlayer/pseuds/SkyFallSlayer
Summary: After finding out their sister might still be alive, the brothers, along with the help of their teammates, set out on a mission to find her; Only to end up getting thrown into something far more sinister and it’s been right under the military’s nose for quite some time.(The final story of the series)
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric & Riza Hawkeye, Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric & Roy Mustang, Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric & Team Mustang, Alphonse Elric & Original Female Character(s), Edward Elric & Original Female Character, Edward Elric & Riza Hawkeye, Edward Elric & Riza Hawkeye & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric & Team Mustang
Series: I Hold No Heartbeat [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808914
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	1. I See Red

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the last installment of 'I Hold No Heartbeat' series!
> 
> I want to thank you all that have been reading, and I appreciate all you're comments and support. Thanks again, and enjoy the story.
> 
> **Warning: This story is rated M for a reason, so if your not comfortable with what the tags suggest, do NOT read this story.**

_The night was so quiet in Resembool, that you could even hear the crickets chirping or the fireflies buzzing. It was quiet. Peaceful. Relaxing. It’s what the eleven year old Alphonse Elric hears every night. He can’t sleep, so staying up all night was the only option, to sit alone at night, either reading or writing to pass the time. Night, in a way, was a special time so he could be alone with his thoughts, some good, some bad, some were normal kid-like thoughts. It was nice sometimes to be alone, but over the past few months of being trapped in a suit of armor, he quickly realized that sometimes he wasn’t the only one up at night._

_He heard a sniffle, something that he’s heard off and on over the months since that fateful night. He looked up from his book. “Brother?” Al said, worriedly. He could see his brother laying in bed, slowly recovering from the horrors of automail surgery. His head was turned away, and a cold cloth covered his eyes to help stop the fever he had earlier this morning. “Do your ports hurt again? I can wake up Granny to give you some sedatives.”_

_Another sob. “N-no… I’m fine. I don’t need sedatives.” Ed muttered, painfully._

_“Ed… why not?”_

_“Y-you know w-why….”_

_“Ed, you deserve to take it. It’s not your fault.”_

_“It is my fault! I k-killed her! Baring this kind of pain is the least I can do…”_

_Al fell silent, hating how his brother was beating himself up. He started thinking on what he should do, letting his brother’s soft crying disappear in the background for a while. Soon a lightbulb went off in his head, and he set his book aside to stand up. He unfolds the wheelchair in the corner of the room and wheels it over to the bed. Upon sensing this, Ed peels the cloth away and opens his eyes._

_“Where are we going?” Ed asked, confused._

_“You’ll see. Come on, I’ll help you settle in.” Al replies, calming._

_Ed was a bit hesitant, but pushed himself up in a sitting position somehow with only one arm. He had his ports already, but the nerves needed to heal before the Rockbells attached his artificial arm and leg. Al lifts him up, carefully placing him into the wheelchair before heading off. Carrying him down the stairs, passing Den who eyed them strangely as they finally left the welcoming home._

_Ed let his eyes wander around as he was being wheeled across a dirt path, passing the many farms and grassland meadows, hearing nothing but pure silence. But the breeze was still there, feeling soothing to his aching ports, feeling good on his flushed skin, feeling gentle on his hair that was starting to pass his shoulders. As much as he wanted to relax, his mind was always busy, keeping him on his toes, giving him a run for his money._

_“Al, where are we going?” He finally asked, looking up at him. “I feel like we’ve been gone for an hour.”_

_Al didn’t look back, keeping his eyes glued ahead. “We have. It takes a while to get here.” He replies._

_“Get where exactly?” Ed didn’t get an answer, which made him a little worried for some reason. Was his little brother mad at him? Was he finally getting the silent treatment? What for exactly? He was confused, and he became even more confused when they went off road and up a hill. “Al?”_

_“We’re here.” Al said, stopping the steering._

_They stopped on top of the hill, underneath a tree. “Al? What’s this?” Ed asked, eyeing a dirt patch on the ground._

_“This… is Layla’s grave.”_

_Ed stiffened, his eyes widening with panic. He looked back with pleading eyes. “Al… no… please. I can’t be here.”_

_“Brother, I’ve already visited her a few times since the taboo, and you haven’t visited her once. You need some closure, brother. It’ll be good for you.” Al says, standing his ground._

_Ed starts shaking his head. “No. No… Al, please. I can’t…”_

_“Brother, I’m sorry, but you need to. Even if you don’t say anything, at least just be near her.”_

_“I can’t... Al, I can’t, I killed-”_

_“Stop saying that!!”_

_Ed became surprised by his reaction, he rarely had outbursts like that. “Al-”_

_Al sighs. “Just stay here, and be with her. I’ll get you in a couple minutes.” He starts walking down the hill, scaring the eldest child._

_“Wait! Al! Where are you going?!”_

_“I’ll be down the hill. I’ll be leaving you two alone.”_

_“Al.”_

_Ed snapped his mouth shut, seeing his baby brother was dead serious about the whole set up. He also mentally cursed him out because Al knew he couldn’t steer the wheelchair away with only one hand (that, and he was in too much pain and had no strength what-so-ever)._

_So instead, he let his two dull colored eyes face the makeshift grave Winry’s grandmother had made, which made his heart ache at the thought of the woman he thought of his own grandmother, and felt terrible that she had to bury someone who was only just a child. First she had to help bury Trisha Elric, then she had to bury her own son and daughter-in-law, and now… this. A child who wasn’t much older than Winry herself, only thirteen at the time and could do no wrong. Layla Elric was buried by Pinako Rockebell as well._

_‘Poor woman.’ was all Ed could think about, as he tried to dodge his own guilt in a way. It was selfish, he knew that, but he knew he also couldn’t run forever._

_He swallowed hard, seeing a picture of her in his mind. Her laugh, her smile. The way she walked and talked, she was like a mixture of him and Al, but she had her own personality as well, something unique to her and her only. She was the eldest, she looked like their mother but she had the same sun-kissed skin like their father. She had the silly side bangs that the siblings seemed to have, but she only had the one like Alphonse did. She kept her hair short in a bob, but it was always big and messy like his. And she was tall for being a girl her age, and he could only imagine how tall she’d be in a few years if she had lived._

_His lower lip quivered, blinking away the saltiness in his eyes. He took in a shaky breath, preparing himself as he could hear her voice as she spewed the last sentence she ever said to him and Al,_

_**“What are you doing?!” She yelled, sounding almost betrayed.** _

_He gripped the arm rest on his chair. “L-Layla…” He begins, already getting choked up. “S-sorry… I haven’t v-visted, I’ve been… well, having surgery.” He lightly chuckles. “I can already picture you panicking about me having surgery, that’s just how you are. It’s funny… um…”_

_He gripped it tighter, and he ignored how the tears were already rolling down his flushed cheeks. “L-Layla… I’m… I’m so sorry.” A sob. “I’m so sorry. I just… I just wanted to g-give you a br-break, I wanted the thr-three of us to b-be kids again. I w-was being selfish a-and I wanted you t-to be with m-me m-more.”_

_Another sob. “I-I always hated h-how b-burnt out you looked every time y-you came home, I h-hated how you had t-to work s-so much at your age, I felt s-so bad for you. I mean… I appreciate all you d-did for me and Al, b-but I f-felt awful that your childhood was str-striped away.”_

_He took in another shaky breath, rubbing his dripping nose with his shoulder. “Layla. I promise… I promise to take good care of Al, I’ll be a good older sibling just like you were. I’ll do anything for him, just like you did for us, and I’m going to fix my mess for us.”_

_He sobbed again. “Layla… I’m still sorry, though. I hope… you can forgive me. And maybe… in the next life… I could see you again. Maybe we… we can all be brothers and sister again. Won’t that be great?”_

_He gave her a sad smile, tasting the tears that went past his dry lips. “G-Goodbye, Layla. I love you… big sis.”_

Alive. Their sister was alive. 

Where she was, he wasn’t so sure, but she was alive and this grave just confirmed it. There was no bones nor hair, just dirt in the shallow grave. They even had dug a few feet deeper just to be sure, but she wasn’t there. 

Alive. Their sister was alive. 

He didn’t know how to feel. Excited? Shocked? Sad? Guilty? What about all of those together? Because Edward didn’t know how to react. After all this time, after these five long, dreadful years, she was alive. How in the world was he supposed to respond to that?

He soon started to figure it out on the four hour train ride back to Central. His commanding officer still didn’t try to pry anything from him, and instead made small talk with Al (who was grateful that he wasn’t going to sit in pure silence the whole time). It was perfect for Ed though. It left him alone with his thoughts.

He started to recall what General Ross was telling him when he was kidnapped. Ross had some kids he was given to by a group, and the group had stopped supplying to him long ago. Which explains why Ross chose him to kickstart his ‘withdrawals’ or whatever it was. Ed nearly shivered. 

Anyway, that could explain why his sister’s picture was there; She must have gotten taken by this group of some sort. They were possible human traffickers, or maybe even something far worse. It made his skin crawl and blood boil when he thought about some sick twisted bastard using his sister like that.

The three of them arrived back in Central soon enough, and it was already the next day due to the bright and early morning Sunrise. Roy groaned at the thought of going back to work with no sleep. 

“This is going to be a long day.” He said, rubbing his tired eyes as they entered HQ.

Ed smirked. “Maybe you should take a nap, you’ll be able to skip out on all that paperwork you have.” He replies, smug.

Roy chuckled, seeing that the old Ed was back (at least for now). “Maybe I should. As long as the Lieutenant doesn’t see me.” They started to head back to the office, but the blonde boy stopped. “Fullmetal?”

“Look, I got to take a leak. Then I’ll come back.” 

Roy sighs, facing the direction where the restrooms were. “Alright let’s go.”

“You’re not coming with me, Bastard. I need to use the restroom, _without_ you. Besides, it’s just around the corner, it’s not like it’s on the other side of the command center.”

“It’s okay, Colonel. I’ll go with, brother.” Al chimed, in his usual happy-go-lucky tone.

The brother’s watched as the older man’s shoulders relax, obviously grateful that the eldest wasn’t going to be alone. 

“Okay. Keep an eye on him, Al.” Roy replies, turning to leave.

“I will.” 

“I don’t need a babysitter, Mustang.” Ed replies, crossing his arms playfully.

“Sure you do… you’re the size of a baby after all.” 

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!”

Roy chuckled and waved while walking away. “See you in the office, shorty.”

Ed growled. “Damn bastard.” 

Al snickered. “Looks like you two are having fun. Are you feeling better, brother?”

“Yeah I am.” He turns and starts walking off in the opposite direction. “I’ll feel even better when I get some more answers.”

Al tilted his head. “What? Wait, hold on a second!” He starts jogging to catch up to his sibling. “What do you mean by that?” 

Ed seemed to frown as he replied, “I'm going to ask a couple questions to my stalker that I need him to answer.”

“Like what?”

Ed said no more as they headed straight for the interrogation rooms after he asked where they were, and he walked straight up to an officer. 

The lower rank saluted. “Sir.” He said.

“I need General Ross in one of the interrogation rooms.” Ed replies, bitterly.

Al tensed up behind him in surprise. “General?” He asked, making sure he heard that right. He was ignored again as the soldier responded.

“Well, Major, he’s still being looked at by the doctors here. He still needs medical atten-” 

“I need General Ross in one of the rooms, _now._ Don’t make me ask twice.” Ed says, giving the soldier a convincing glare.

The soldier swallowed hard. “Yes, sir. I’ll go get him.” He saluted once more and left, just as Al grabbed his brother’s by the shoulders and turned him around.

“Brother, what do you mean General? Are you telling me a soldier here was your stalker?” Al asked, a mixture of anger and worriedness in voice.

Ed looked a bit guilty, but didn’t dare to look away. “Al, listen, I promise I’ll tell you everything, but I need you to trust me for a moment. I need to interrogate this guy, he knows something about Layla, and I have a strong feeling I know why. So please, Al, can you trust me on this?” He made pleading eyes at his brother, hoping that'll get through to him. 

Al sighed worriedly. “Okay. I’ll let you talk to him, but you have to tell me _everything_ afterwards.”

“I will. Don’t you worry.”

Al sighs again, letting go of his shoulders, looking kind of scared. “Brother, does this guy really know something about our sister?”

“If my theory is correct, then yes. Unfortunately, it’s not a good thing if it is true.” Ed looked bitter once more, his hands turned to fists at his side, making the armor boy puzzled.

“Brother?”

“Sir!” The soldier from before calls out, the brothers facing him. “He’s in the room at the end of the hall. You may go in whenever you feel like it.” 

“Thank you, soldier.” Ed replies, walking past him with Alphonse in tow.

“You’re welcome, Major.”

The two of them marched down the hall to the final room, the eldest placing a hand on the knob, looking back at his brother. “Al, maybe you shouldn’t come in. The theory is… not pleasant.”

Al shakes his head. “I don’t care. If it’s something about our sister, I want to know. Good or bad.”

Ed takes a deep breath before nodding. “Fine. But you have to let me do the talking.”

“That's fine, brother.”

“Good.” He faces the door, bracing himself for whatever was to come. He opens it, and is met with a person he hated more than his own father, General Ross.

“Well…. I thought I would get interrogated by Colonel Mustang. I never thought it would be done with you, my _dearest_ Edward Elric.” Ross said, with a creepy smile.

He was handcuffed to the table, making the blonde feel safer as he takes in the man’s appearance. His ginger haired had balding spots where his hair was burnt; he had bandages around his forehead from where Havoc hit him the head with his steel-toed boot; His shoulder and arm were bandaged as well, and Ed could only assume underneath the medical gown he had bandages on his leg and back from the bullet and fire; And some possible bad bruising and broken ribs/bones from when he got hit by the car. Overall, he looked like shit which made Ed feel better too.

“Well, I wanted to ask you a couple questions first before the Colonel could come in here. If you don’t mind?” Ed said, giving him a cold stare.

“I'm pretty sure I wouldn’t.” His blue eyes landed on the suit of armor who made itself stand in the corner. “And who’s this?” Al tensed up at his stare, feeling very fragile and small at this very moment.

Ed immediately cut in as the over protective brother. “Nobody you need to concern yourself with. You only have to deal with me.”

Ross’ smile grew as he looked back at the boy. “That doesn’t sound too bad. So, what kind of questions are you going to ask me?” 

Ed reached into his pocket and slammed down the photo he stole from the man’s house. “Does this look familiar? It’s from your personal collection in your home. I’ve done a lot of thinking since the kidnapping to now, and something’s are starting to add up, but I need you to clarify them for me.” He crosses his arms, watching as Ross looks at the picture intensely. “You mentioned a group was handing you over to these kids, and I was wondering if this so-called group was just a bunch of human traffickers, or if they’re something else. Maybe sex slaves?”

Ed heard his brother gasp quietly behind him, as Ross picked up the picture to take a better look. 

He soon chuckled. “Oh… I remember her. Oh man, she was something.” Ross said, laughing. Ed’s hands curled into fists at the tone he was using, sensing that his blood was boiling for a second time today. “Yeah, I remembered when she got delivered to me, she was a little bit younger than you are now, but my god. If that one time only policy didn’t exist, I would have loved to have kept ordering her every time I needed to have a bit of _fun._ ”

Ed didn’t know what had possessed him, but all he saw was red as he grabbed the front of Ross’ gown and pulled him down so hard that his face smashed into the metal table, hearing a satisfying ‘crack’ from his nose upon impact. Ross cried out as blood pooled all around him, as the blonde watched him squirm with hate in his amber eyes.

Ross looked up, trying to reach his broken nose with his cuffed hands. “What the fu-”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!?!” Al was the first to yell, surprising the others. His soul filled eyes had the same hate in them as his older brother. 

Ross looked at the teenager in disbelief. “What are you-”

“ _Listen._ ” Ed hissed, grabbing his collar again, looking him dead in the eyes. “I know that person in the picture, and I care about that person very much, so I’m going to ask you again. Who the fuck are those people? What is this group you were in?”

For once, the sides have been flipped, just last night Ed was terrified and Ross was the one that was causing it. Now, Ross was the one terrified at what Ed was doing. Normally, the prodigy wouldn’t resort to such violence, but at this very moment, he didn’t give two shits.

“T-there a group called ‘Shadow Crawlers’, a name that suits them very well because they’ve been going undetected for years by the military. Well… some of the military.” Ross stuttered, petrified. 

“What do you mean by _some?_ ” Ed asked, gripping his collar tighter.

“I-I’m not the only soldier who uses them, a lot of higher ups know about them, you know… the ones who want to have a fling here and there.”

Ed bared his teeth, shaking the General a bit. “Children are not fucking flings! Now where is this group?!”

Ross paled, swallowing hard. “I-I don’t know, I truly don’t. They move around a lot, and It’s been a few years since I’ve heard from them, probably because they’re getting smaller and smaller every minute.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“I-I don’t know, the last thing I heard was a rumor going around that somebody was invading all their bases and taking them down, setting the kids free. B-But that’s just a rumor, I don’t know if it’s true.” 

“Is that it?” He asked, glaring menacingly at him.

Ross visibly shook in fear. “Y-yes. I swear, t-that’s all I know.” 

Ed took a few seconds to look in his teary eyes for any sign of lying, but saw nothing and let go. “Come on, Al. My work here is done.” He opens the door and looks back with another cold stare. “Oh, and Ross? You’re lucky I have morals, or otherwise you would be a dead man right now. Keep that in mind.”

The Elric’s closed the door behind them, leaving a broken and shaking man in the room alone.


	2. We're In This Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al and Ed reflects on the situation as they try to figure out what they're going to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings for this chapter. It's just two brothers talking.

_Al quietly skipped down the stairs in the middle of the night, craving for some water. He left behind his sleeping older brother in their room, and made the daring trekk downstairs. He stumbled into the kitchen, fetching a glass and filling it up with the clear liquid from the sink, stopping shortly after he drank it all in one go._

_He let out a small sigh, setting the empty glass on the counter and was ready to move his tired self back upstairs until he heard a commotion coming from the next room. Being a curious boy who just turned six years of age, decided to check it out. He walked down the narrow hallway, finding that the light in his father’s study room was on. He tilted his head to the side as he walked some more and took a peek inside the door that was left half way open. From there he saw his sister, whose back was facing towards him, and she looked like she was holding something in her hands._

_“Mom said you were going to be back in a year, so where are you, Hohenheim?” Layla muttered quietly, a bit of annoyance in her exhausted tone._

_Al frowned. “Layla?”_

_She gasped and turned around, relief crossed her face when she saw who it was. “Al… you scared me. What are you doing up?”_

_“I needed some water. What are you doing?”_

_“I needed to finish some bills and it took me longer than expected.” She set something down, and wiped her tired eyes that had nothing but layers and layers of bags under them._

_Al stepped closer, concern on his small face. “Bills? It’s three in the morning.”_

_“Well… we were behind on a few things. We might have to see if Granny can feed us for a little while until I get a few more jobs.” She smiled reassuringly, but Al could see the exhaustion and pain in her dull, green eyes that she shared with their mother. She was in desperate need of some sleep, in need of a break; She definitely didn’t need any more jobs._

_If possible, Al frowned even more, deciding to change the topic somehow. His eyes then finally caught what she was holding just moments ago, a book that talked about alchemy from the long forgotten city of Xerxes. Al immediately knew why she picked that book up, it was a book that their father had, one that he held onto dearly._

_“Layla?” He asked in his calming tone, his golden eyes staring up at her._

_“Yeah, Al?” Layla asked, meeting his gaze._

_“Why do you hate dad?”_

_Her eyes go big for a split second before she frowns. “Hate… Hate’s a strong word, but uh… I’m not very happy with him.”_

_He raises an eyebrow. “Why not?”_

_She stays silent for a moment before kneeling down in front of him. “Listen, He said he’ll be back in a year, and it’s been over a year... Way over a year actually. So as much as I would love to be hopeful and see if he shows up, it’s hard for me to be. He broke his promise, and he didn't even show up for mom’s funeral. I don’t know where he is, and it'd be nice if he had showed up and just said hi every once and awhile, but he hasn’t even done that.”_

_Al looks down at the floor, sadness in his eyes. “But… I still think he might.”_

_She smiles sadly, placing her hands on his shoulders to make him look up. “And that’s okay. You have a lot more faith than I do, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you want to stay positive, then go for it. You don’t always have to follow what I do or think.”_

_“But what about brother? He doesn’t like dad much either.”_

_“Ed’s just in the same boat I am, he left without a word and that sent a wrong message to him. Who knows, maybe he’ll outgrow his hate, but I can’t be so sure. Just don’t force him into changing, okay? Ed’s got to be able to make his own decision.”_

_He nods in understanding. “Okay, Sis.”_

_“Good.” She smiles and opens her arms out wide. “Now give your big sister a hug.”_

_He giggles and throws his arms around her. “Love you, Layla.”_

_“I love you too, Al. Go get some sleep, you’ve got school tomorrow.”_

_He pulls away, and gives her a salute, looking quite serious. “Yes, Ma’am.”_

_She snorts and shakes her head. “Silly boy.” She clears her throat and makes her voice sound deeper. “You’re dismissed, soldier.”_

_Al turns and leaves the room, stopping to only hear his sister’s voice once again._

_“If you’re not going to come back for me and Ed, come back for Al at least. He’s the only one that still believes in you, Hohenheim.” She said in a whisper, but Al heard it all._

_The way she spoke made his heart break into two. It held so much sadness, concern, and anger, but overall it felt like she was giving up on the last bit of hope she had of ever seeing their father again. Al wanted to go back, but he truly didn’t know what he was going to say or do to make her feel any better. So instead he kept his mouth shut and headed up stairs to bed, where he would get no sleep that night._

The suit of armor’s eyes watched as his older brother paced the room, back and forth, over and over again for an hour. They found one of the many break rooms the military HQ had and waited around inside to blow off some steam. The Elric brothers had discovered some shocking news that their sister that they thought was dead was actually alive, and was stuck in some group that makes sex slaves. 

It was disgusting was all that Al could think at the moment, but what was truly bothering him was that while they were interrogating Ed’s kidnapper, Al discovered that his brother almost became a victim himself like their sister. And on top of all that, some of the Military’s higher ranks were involved in the group known as the ‘Shadow Crawlers’. A terrible name for some terrible people. If Al had a body he knew he would have already been sick. He wonders how in the world is Edward still sane after all this?

“Brother?” He finally said, cutting the eldest off in mid-ranting.

Ed stopped and faced him. “Yeah, Al?”

Al hesitant for a second, but swallowed and continued. “Why didn’t you tell me you were kidnapped by a guy like that?” 

The prodigy tensed up before his eyes betrayed him and made him look away. “Why should I? It wasn’t important…” 

“Not important? Not important!?” He stands up from the couch, catching Ed by surprise. “Brother, you could have been a victim yourself, you could have been taken or even sold to those people after being used. Why didn’t you tell me that before we went into the interrogation room? You left me wide open for a blind side! I couldn’t even-”

“Cause I don't want to think about it!”

Silence came to be, and both brothers ended up staring at one another until Edward finally broke their contact again, looking quite scared.

“Brother?” Al said, quietly.

“Listen… What happened to me was scary, and thankfully Ross never got to do anything to me, but I’m more worried about our sister more than anything else.” Ed replies, his hands turning into fists. “You’ve seen Ross, he’s disgusting, and I can only imagine what he’s done to Layla, and I can only imagine what that group has done to her. It makes me sick to my stomach. I mean she was only thirteen when we thought she died, _thirteen_ Al, much younger than I am now; It’s sickening.” 

His jaw clenched tightly as his eyes filled with a bit of hate. “The reason I didn’t say anything was, because I didn’t want to think what she’s been through. Five years we didn’t know she had survived the taboo, actually… it’s been longer since we didn’t see her when we trained with our teacher.” His serious face turned into a sad one as he spoke so quietly that Al nearly missed it. “We haven’t seen her in so long, we didn’t get the chance to say hello to her when we committed the taboo, and those words and her face is still plastered in my mind. I always hated how she looked and sounded that night, and it was my fault that she was that way.”

“Ed.” Al begins, shoulders sagging with a bit of guilt. He pushed his brother to his limits and brought up the guilt he had in these dire times. “I’m sorry.”

Ed chuckles softly. “No need to apologize.” He looks at his younger brother, the sadness still there, but there was also hopefulness in his eyes. “I just want to find her, wherever she may be.”

Al nods. “I do too, brother. However, these people… they hunt down children, kids just like us, as much as I would like this to be one our ‘Brothers only’ missions, I don’t think it’s wise for us to go alone. Not to mention, these people are associated with our military, this is more sinister than we thought.”

Ed sighs, scratching the back of his neck. “You’re right. As much I would prefer it just be the two of us, the military involved in this group is a problem.”

“So we’re going to need help. Do you think the Colonel and his men can help us?”

Ed smiles. “Of course they will. They’ll always will. I’m proud to say that they won’t abandon us, no matter what situation we’re in.”

If Al could smile he would have, so he let his words carry his tone. “That’s always good to know.” He chuckles.

Ed’s smile grew wider, and the determination returned in his eyes as he was ready to take this head on. “Now…. let’s go get our sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the adventure begins! The brothers are going to set out to save their sister, and they both hope that Team Mustang will help out.


	3. Family Is Family, They Don’t Have To Be Tied In Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al try to convenience Roy and the team to join them in the fight against the Shadow Crawlers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry this took so long, I've been caught up in writing my Royai Au story. Thanks for sticking around! 
> 
> No major warnings, just that this chapter mentions/implies rape a few times.

_“Boys, I need some help to get the table set.” Layla called out, while coming into the kitchen. She saw Al was already putting the plates on the table, and smiled. However, she saw Ed’s hand in the cookie jar, which she immediately snatched away._

_He looked up at her in surprise. “Hey!” Ed said, in disbelief._

_She looked sternly at him. “No cookies. Winry and her mom made an apple pie that they're bringing over.” She replies, watching his face fill with joy. “After dinner though.”_

_“Awe….” His shoulders sagged, as he dragged himself to take a seat at the table, Al soon joining him._

_“Are they on their way?” Al asked, excitedly. He was also craving for a slice of the famous and magical apple pie._

_“They sure are, just got off the phone with them. They should be here in a few minutes actually.” Layla said, smiling at a joyful reaction. “And I made stew, that’s still simmering, just like the whole family likes it.”_

_“Oh boy, stew!!”_

_Ed raised an eyebrow. “Whole family?”_

_“Well sure. Family doesn’t have to be blood, yeah know?” She replies, sitting down at the table with them._

_“Yeah... I guess that’s true.”_

_She leans back in the chair a bit, looking smug. “And if down the line you want to be a true family, all one of you needs to do is marry Winry.”_

_The siblings didn’t miss as Ed’s cheeks turned a light pink, as Al decided to add a bit more salt into the wounds._

_“I guess that’s true. But I can’t do it, Winry already rejected me. So Ed’s the only one that can do it.” Al replies, also smug._

_The middle child’s face turned red, as his eyes went big. “I-I don’t have a crush on her!” Ed barked, pointing at the both of them. Their grins grew._

_“Al never said that you had a crush on her, by the way.” Layla said, eyeing him proudly._

_He opened and closed his mouth fast, crossing his arms as he sank into his chair. “I hate both of you.”_

_Both Layla and Al laughed, practically wiping their tears away._

_“Seriously though, even if you don’t, the Rockbells are still your family. Anyone that you come to care about can be considered family, even if there’s no blood relation involved. Remember that, you two.” She says, as they both nodded._

_“Understood, Layla.” They said, smiling._

After deciding that they needed help, they went back into the interrogation room where the ever-so shaken General Ross was still there, and they managed to pry a possible lead off of him (He was honestly to scared of what the fifteen year old could do to him after making a somewhat of a death threat, and breaking his nose).

The brothers had managed to shake him down into telling them where the Shadow Crawlers could be. The last time he heard, they were in a town down south. But that was _years_ ago. Who knows if they’re still there, especially after he mentioned a rumor going around that someone was taking the group’s bases down one-by-one. Unfortunately, that’s all they had to go on, and they just hoped it was enough to convenience Colonel Mustang and his men. Which is what the brother’s are doing now.

Back at the office, Roy looked at his youngest subordinate in confusion, looking at him like he had three heads. “Hang on a second…. What?” He asked.

“I know it doesn’t make any sense, but it’s true.” Ed replies, slightly sorry about how he laid all of this on the older man, and his teammates.

“I just…” Roy shakes his head in disbelief, falling back into his chair, feeling like he just lost all his energy by listening to that. “Wow…”

“I don’t get it though.” Jean replies, stumped. “The whole heartbeat thing? How the hell does that work?”

“When doing the taboo, each thing you lose means something to you.” Ed begins, glancing over at him. “For example, if you had done it, you would have lost something that has meaning to you, like…” He thinks for a moment. “You like to smoke, right? So you might lose your taste of smoking, or maybe even lose your whole tastebuds. Something down the line like that.”

“We used to do this silly thing when we were kids. We used to check Layla’s heartbeat because we were so afraid of losing her.” Al chimes in, and Ed hums in agreement.

“It made her feel good because she knew it made us happy when we did it. There’s nothing more important to Layla than to make us happy, she’d do anything to keep it that way. That’s the reason she lost it.” Ed finishes.

Jean nods slowly, finally pieces it together. “I get it now when you put it that way. I shouldn’t be surprise that someone could survive without a heartbeat, I mean, look at Al. I didn’t think you could bond a soul to something, but here we are.”

“So wait a minute…” Roy replies, getting the Elric’s attention. He cocks his head to the side and asks, “Is that why you went to Resembool? Did you two dig up her grave or something?”

Ed shakes his head. “Yes. The grave was shallow incase we ever wanted to move her somewhere properly, but due to my surgery, we never did. We even dug deeper and wider than we should have, but we found _nothing._ ”

“So no bones? No hair?”

“Nope. No bones, no hair. Hell, we didn’t even find a single strand of the clothes she had on, I mean, clothing never decomposes; If she was dead, they would have been there.”

Roy rests his chin on his folding hands, thinking. “Okay. So your sister is alive and somehow ended up in sex slave ring called the…”

“Shadow Crawlers.” Ed replies, a bit of venom in his tone (but not towards his boss).

“Right. Shadow Crawlers. Turns out General Ross was in it, and almost roped you into it as well. And you’re telling me that he’s not the only military man involved with this group?”

“Correct. And I don’t think he was lying when he said so.”

“Fuck.” Roy held his head low for a bit, realizing how serious this was. He always knew that when he became Fuhrer he would have to clean up all the corrupted souls in the military; He just didn’t think they were _this_ corrupted. “Okay. What else? Didn’t you say you went to talk to Ross a second time?” 

He looked up and Ed wasted no time to answer. “We sure did, and he gave us a lead. Apparently this group’s bases are slowly disappearing, but he thinks there’s one of their main hubs still standing. One in a small town down south… Kurdon… maybe?” 

Roy’s eyes, along with the rest of the adults, went wide. He shot to his feet. “Did you say Kurdon?!”

Ed raises an eyebrow, both worried and confused by his boss’ actions. “Yeah? Why? Do you know the place?”

He nods slowly, heart sinking a bit. The military was _definitely_ corrupted now when his subordinate said the name of the town. “I sure do. Kurdon is an extremely small town, only a hundred miles from the border of Aerugo. There’s an undercover military base there, and they’re incharge of making sure there’s no illegal smuggling over the border to Amestris. If you’re telling me there’s a sex slave ring in Kurdon, then we’re screwed.”

It was Ed’s turn to be scared as he asked, “Why? What’s so bad about the base?”

“It’s not about the base, it’s about the people in it. The soldiers there are highly trained, they’re all Ghost ops.”

“Ghost ops?”

“It’s a course in the academy you can take.” Riza chimed in, recalling the day she saw the sign up sheet for it, but declined. “They’re highly trained in making sure they can move in undetected on their missions, leaving nothing behind to indicate that they were even there. Like a ghost.”

“That’s crazy.” Ed said before gasping. “Ross! That could explain how he got into my apartment without me noticing. I mean he left no trail behind to indicate a break in.”

“That’s what I was thinking when I came to your house.” 

Heymans let out a low whistle. “Damn. If that base is filled with Ghosts, then this is more troubling than we thought.” He said, truthfully.

“No shit.” Roy replies, gripping his desk in anger. “If those guys are involved in this group, it’s no wonder none of us have heard of the Shadow Crawlers before, we wouldn’t even have known this if Ross didn’t kidnap Fullmetal. Damn it.”

Ed frowned at the way he was tearing himself apart. The great flame alchemist always hated to feel useless. “Colonel, we have to go after them. We know these guys exist, so let’s go stop them.” He replies, encouragingly. 

Roy sighed. “Fullmetal, I don’t think you understand this isn’t going to be easy. We’re talking about highly trained military soldiers, who in the fuck knows what we’re walking into.”

“To hell if it isn’t easy!!! We have to try!!”

“Fullmetal-”

“Look… the real reason why I want to do this is to see my sister again.” His tensed shoulders sagged a bit, his face softening. “Even if she’s not there, even if she’s…” He pauses, eyes darting away for a split second. “Dead. We have to stop this group, I mean, Colonel, if this is tied to the military, who knows what else is! We could have an illegal drug ring, smuggling ring, hell, we could we even have people in the military trying to get rid of the military. We just don’t know.” Ed looks serious again. “My point is, we have to do something, we got to something to stop this group before they cross a major line, that might cause problems for this country. We’ve got to try at least.”

Roy let the boy’s words sink in really deep, realizing that the kid has a point. His face turns worrisome as he sighs again. “Look, I agree with you, one hundred percent; But honestly, I’m worried. Not just for this country, or for the military. I’m worried about _you.”_

Ed looked surprised. “Colonel?”

“Fullmetal, what Ross tried to do to you was… unthinkable, and it really shook you up, I can tell. So, are you sure you want to dive head first into this?” 

Ed saw the fear in the older man’s eyes, he could tell he was afraid for him even if he tried not to show it too much, he just could tell. Usually, he would have bitten his head off for treating him like the kid he was, but now was not the time for that. For once, he was grateful that someone was giving him a bit of pity, and concern.

“Colonel, I know you’re worried, but honestly… Ross never actually did it to me, and I was shaken up even when he didn’t. But Layla… Who the fuck knows what she’s been through.” He clenched his fists. “She was thirteen years old, and I haven’t seen her in five years. _Five years._ If anything what Ross said was true about… using my sister, then I can only imagine what she’s been through. The thought of what might have happened to her doesn’t sit right with me.  
“Which is why, I have to stop this group so they won’t take anyone's sister, or brother, or friend, or child. I have to do something, Colonel. These people are monsters, you have to agree with me on that.”

“I couldn’t have agreed more, but we can’t exactly waltz up to the base. They’ll suspect something, it’s just how they are, they question everything.” Roy replies, honestly. He too wanted to give this group a piece of his mind, especially after one of their own touched his subordinate. 

“I could get General Grumman to send us there.” Riza replies, quickly. Everyone looked at her with surprise and confusion.

“And why would he do that, Lieutenant?” Al asked, curiously.

“He’ll do it if we explain the situation to him. If he gives us an order to go there with a believable reason, we might be able to go to the base without any suspension.” She saw the brothers’ hesitation, and plastered a reassuring smiling on. “Don’t worry, he can keep all this a secret until we undercover more evidence on this group.”

“Ah, and he’s a General, a well liked and respected one; Those guys at the base wouldn’t be able to say ‘no’.” Roy said, catching on. He smiles at the blonde. “Good thinking, Lieutenant.”

“It’s a good idea, but if I could make a suggestion, boss?” Jean asks, raising his hand like he was in a classroom.

“You may, Lieutenant.”

“Well if you do get permission to go down there, you might want to stick to low numbers. So it’ll be wise to bring only a few people with you, because even with General Grumman’s permission, a lot of people might still be suspicious.”

Roy strokes his chin in thought. “You’ve got a point there.” His face flashes authority, as he begins barking out orders. “Alright then Men, here’s the plan. Hawkeye, go talk to the General about what you suggested, that’s probably our safest bet to get to the base.”

She salutes. “Yes, Sir.”

“If this works, we’ll head there in small numbers. The good thing is, not all of us work for the military, so-” He looks at Alphonse. “Al can always look around town for clues, just as the civilian he is.”

Al nods. “I’ll do my best, Colonel.”

Roy then faces his remaining men. “The rest of you will have to stay in the office and cover for me. However, be on standby, I might need one of you to tag along with the rest of us.”

The four of them nodded, and said, “Yes, sir.”

Ed couldn’t help but smile at the scene, he was happy that he had people he could rely on to help him out like this. He felt someone tap his shoulder, and he glanced back to see with his gold eyes.

“Brother, do you think we’ll actually see our sister?” Al asked, a bit of hopefulness in his undertone.

Ed’s smile grew bigger, as he pumped his fist. “Of course we will. And if we don’t, we’ll be doing something good out of all this. We’ll be trying to stop the group that took her.”

“I guess you’re right about that. But… I really want to see her again, even if it’s only a glance, it’ll be nice to just give her a hug after all this time.”

Ed frowned at how sad his brother sounded, and he couldn’t help but look away with his dread filled eyes. “Me too, Al. Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And their adventure begins. Do you guys think Layla is alive after all this time? Or do you have your doubts like Ed and Al? Tell me what you think below! Thanks for reading! See you soon.


	4. To Hunt The Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed arrives at the undercover base and discovers something shocking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: Implied things that may trigger some people. Read at your own risk.**

A hand clenched in a fist hit the desk, shaking it with pure rage. “Damn it!!!!” The soldier yelled, he was not having a good day. “Did he release all of them?” He stared back at the many other soldiers in front of them, and they all shook their heads ‘yes’. “How?”

“We’re not entirely sure, sir. Whoever this guy is has some mad stealth skills.” One replies, truthfully.

“It’s true. None of us heard or saw him coming, Major.” Another adds, a bit nervous.

“Damn it. This can’t be happening.” The boss, or Major, complains. He gripped his black hair tightly as he tried to process all this. “Did he release _everyone?_ ” The other soldiers nodded again, and he threw his head back with defeat. “Fuck.”

The others glanced at each other, feeling a bit guilty and nervous at how their boss looked. Their boss looked at him with his dark eyes, and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. 

“What? What is it now?” He asked, with anger in his undertone.

The soldiers shifted uncomfortably, before one decided to speak. “Um… well… it seems our… ‘hunter’ has taken the map of some of our… drop off/pick up spots…” 

The Major’s eyes went wide, as he stood up completely. “WHAT?! Are you fucking serious?!” 

“Y-yes, sir….”

He groans heavily. “This hunter of ours has been dismantling our ring all across this country for years, how come nobody has caught him yet?” 

Silence, as he groaned again and his subordinate decided to try to lighten the mood. “Um, sir-”

Somebody busted open the door, a Private coming in with a look of fear in his eyes. “Major Dunwick!” He yelled. 

“What is it, Private? Got any more info on our hunter?” 

He shakes his head. “No sir, but we may have a problem.”

Great. Another problem he’ll have to deal with. He sighs. “What kind of problem?”

“Um… someone from Central showed up to do an unannounced inspection, sir.”

“What? Are you kidding me? Who?”

“Uh… someone named Colonel Roy Mustang, sir.”

All the higher ups froze and grew pale, just as the Major’s eye twitch. “The… the hero of Ishval is here? You’ve… you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!!”

***Break***

“Don’t do anything drastic, Fullmetal.” 

Ed glanced at his superior, before looking back in the distance where his brother had left to be a “civilian” in the small town of Kurdon. They had arrived just an hour ago and checked into a hotel after Riza managed to convince General Grumman to help them out with this case. He promised to keep quiet until they had more evidence which they thanked him greatly for, especially the brothers who hoped that their sister was still alive after all this time.

It was them, Roy, Riza and evern Jean tagged along as they went to “inspect” the undercover military base of the Ghost ops. The soldiers there would believe it would be a normal inspection of their base, but in reality the small team there would search for evidence that’ll connect them to the ring of sex slaves. They just hope luck was on their side, and they sound pretty convincing.

So, Al agreed to disappear and search round the town for any other clues to the group as his older brother and the three adults headed for the base with the inspection form in their hands. 

Edward eyed rolled, glaring back at the other alchemist. “Don’t start nagging me yet, the mission hasn’t even started.” 

Now it was Roy’s turn to eye roll, as they strolled down the streets of the town. “I know it hasn’t, but I know how you are. The moment you sniff something intriguing out, you head straight first into battle. So I need you to stop and think when you come across something that seems important. That’s all I’m asking you, Fullmetal.” 

Ed chuckled before smirking. “Just this morning you were expressing your worries for me, and now you're giving me a lecture on how to use my head. It seems like you really do care, Colonel Bastard.”

Roy smirked too, enjoying the harmless teasing. “Well, it looks like I’m not the heartless person you think I am. After finally realizing this, maybe you’ll gain some height as a gift.”

Ed tensed up, as he pointed a gloved finger viciously at the Colonel. “CALL ME SMALL, YOU BASTARD! I DARE YOU!”

Roy smirk grew and Havoc couldn’t help but laugh at the scene. No matter how many times he has seen them fight, it never got old. He always compared them to a tiny chihuahua and a giant Amestrian (German) Shepherd since of their size and height, and they seemed to always “bark” at each other when they talked. He smiled and noticed that they were starting to slow down.

“I’m sorry to break your teasing up, but we’re here.” Riza stated, stopping completely.

They all stood in front of an ordinary office building, about three stories high, and it wasn’t that wide. It just seemed like a tiny office building, and it was the perfect size for a town like this.

Ed raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side a bit. “I don’t get it. Why are we at an office building?” He asked, curiously. 

“Since this is an undercover base of the military, it needs to blend in, and what’s more ordinary than an office building?” Roy replies, setting up his authoritative tone. 

He nods. “Makes sense now that you’ve pointed it out.”

“It does.” Roy looks back at his team. “Listen, we have to act like this is just like any other mission we’ve done, we can’t let them expect that we’re onto something. Is that understood?”

They nod. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, let’s go find out what’s really going on.”

They followed their commanding officer up the small flight of stairs, watching him as he knocked on the door. They were welcomed with silence for a few moments before someone propped the door open a little, a soldier peeking out suspiciously staring. His pupils shrink when he saw the flame alchemist’s military uniform. 

“Oh… h-hello, sir. May I ask what you’re doing here?” He asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

Roy held up a piece of paper, a signed document with an unforgettable signature. “Hello, My name is Colonel Roy Mustang, I’m from the command center in Central. I’m here to do an inspection under General Grumman’s orders.” He puts the paper down. “May we come in and talk more?”

The soldier seemed a bit hesitant, but wouldn’t dare talk back at a superior officer. “You may, sir.” 

He opens the door for them, letting them inside before locking it. The inside no longer looked like an office, it looked more like a military bunker, with metal doors and vaults to stash high grated weapons. Ed looked in shocked at how one building could hide itself like this.

The soldier, or Private, looked at them and gave them a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that. I wasn't informed that we were having an inspection today.”

“Oh, but we didn’t inform _anyone_ here.” Roy replies, bluntly.

“Huh?”

“This is a surprise inspection, which is what the military is allowed to do, two times a year.” Roy nearly smiled at how timid the Private looked. 

_“He must have just come out from the academy. He’s not very good at hiding his emotions yet.”_ Roy thought.

He continued, “We heard that you convascated some illegal items from the Aerugonian border, and me and my subordinates would like to check it out.” 

“I see.” The Private replies.

“Is that going to be a problem?” 

The soldier tensed up, and shook his head. “N-no, sir! Of course not. Just let me go get my boss, sir.” The private ran off, leaving the Central soldiers alone.

Jean crossed his arms, thinking. “This is already getting suspicious. I mean, besides the way he was acting, there’s literally no one guarding the front entrance. It leaves them wide open for any attacks.”

“Havoc’s got a point, sir.” Riza says, agreeing with her fellow comrade. “Even if this was an undercover base, there should be soldiers stationed everywhere.” 

“Something’s definitely not right here.” Roy said, narrowing his eyes a bit.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Ed said, smashing his fist into his open palm, cracking his flesh knuckles. “Alright, let’s get in and find anything that looks suspicious, let’s can these guys.”

“Fullmetal-”

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t do anything drastic, I got it.” 

“Good.”

They fell into silence, and soon the Private showed back up with his boss, or the man in charge of this base. He came strolling over with a pressured smile that anyone can pick up instantly. 

Roy narrowed his eyes a bit more, observing the man coming towards them. _“He’s tense, I can feel it. And that smile’s not doing him any good either.”_

“So you must be Colonel Mustang from Central!” The man said, holding his hand out. “I’m Major Dunwick, I run this base here in Kurdon.”

Roy observed carefully, picking up on the beads of sweat just under his hairline. He wanted to laugh at how obvious his nerves were, but didn’t as he kept his normal, serious expression. He took the Major’s hand and shook it. “Pleasure to meet you, Major. I’m sure your Private here has made it quite clear on why I’m here.”

“Yes, he did. Something about an unplanned inspection of our base, an order given by a General.” Dunwick replies, a bit skeptical. 

“His name is General Grumman.” Dunwick flinched a bit at the name, and Roy smiled inside. “I’m sure you’ve heard of him, he’s quite famous around the military.”

_“He flinched. Now I’m certain they’re hiding something.”_ He thought, waiting for the Major to reply.

“Y-yes. Of course I’ve heard of him. For heaven’s sake, he’s been in the military for quite some times.” Dunwick said, trying to keep his cool. “But I don’t understand why he would send a state alchemist to do an inspection? I'm a little confused about that, sir.”

“Originally, The General wanted to send regular soldiers to do it, but since we’re close to Aerugo, he sent a few alchemists to provide some extra protection just in case something goes wrong.”

Dunwick raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, sir. A few?”

Roy smirked, pridefully. “Yes, a few.” He shifts his stance to give the man a better view at his subordinates behind him. He then gestures to the young blonde in the back. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.”

Dunwick's quiet gasp didn’t go unnoticed as Ed grinned playfully at him. “T-The Fullmetal Alchemist?! No way!” 

“The General just wanted to be sure nothing bad could happen while we’re here.” Roy adds, before pointing at Riza. “And besides, he wanted to make sure that nothing could happen to his precious granddaughter. Am I right?”

The flame alchemist, ironically, added more fuel to fire; watching how the man paled a bit when he realized that he had a respected General’s granddaughter in the building (and that they would have to be extra cautious so that nothing could happen to her). 

“This is 1st Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye,” Roy continues, pointing to Jean afterwards. “And this is 2nd Lieutenant Jean Havoc. All three of these men are under my command, and will report to me, and me only until this inspection is over with. Is that understood?”

Now, the poor facade that Dunwick had plastered on was soon melting away, not hiding the internal shock he was facing.

_“No way…. The Flame and Fullmetal Alchemist, a respected soldier in the military, and the granddaughter of General Grumman, are all under the same roof?! How can this be?!”_ Dunwick thought, his eye nearly twitching again. _“Not to mention, the lower ranks all work for Colonel Mustang. I’m fucking screwed.”_

He sighed, and saluted the Colonel. “Yes, Sir. I understand. I’ll make sure my men stay out of you and your team’s way, and if you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask.” 

Roy nods. “Thank you, Major.” He faces his subordinates. “Gentlemen, let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”

The four of them marched past the Ghost ops soldiers, disappearing around a corner, which left the Major in a terrible state. The Private’s face turned worrisome, as he took a step closer to his boss.

“Um, Major-” He begins, only to be cut off by a deep growl.

“God damn it….. We’re so fucking screwed now.” Dunwick replies, in a harsh whisper.

***Break***

Edward pretty much stayed silent the entire time they were checking out the base, which gave him time to observe and soak things up. The base was honestly in fine shape, the vault that held weapons and confiscated items from Aerugo were also fine, and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. That, and the soldiers at the base seemed to obey Major Dunwick’s command of staying out of their way, but even then, Ed could see the nervousness in the soldiers’ eyes as they walked around.

He frowned, making him a bit angry inside. He knew the Colonel told him not to do anything drastic, but it was a task that was getting harder and harder as time went by. 

It.

Pissed.

Him.

Off.

He knew that the soldiers here were obviously hiding something, and all he wanted to do was pin one to a wall and force them to speak, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk blowing their cover (that, and the Colonel, and/or Hawkeye, might send him to an early grave if he did). He gulped at how scary those two can be sometimes. 

He mentally sighed. _“Maybe Ross was lying?”_ He thought long and hard, before shaking his head. _“No. We’ve checked the vaults, so they’re not worried about the confiscated items, so it has to be something else. They have to be tied to the Shadow Crawlers, because why else would they be so nervous?”_

His mind wandered to his younger brother a bit, wondering if Alphonse had found anything suspicious while walking in the town. _“I wonder if Al is having better luck then I am?”_

He stopped in the empty hallway, all alone because the four of them split up to cover more ground. He was truly stumped, a familiar feeling he's used to after years of dead ends of finding a way to get him and his brother’s bodies back, and it was hitting him hard now. _“What do I do? I’m stumped. I don’t know where else to look?”_

_**“Everyone has secrets, as long as you know where to look.”** _

Ed gasps, a fragment of a memory coming through. He soon recalls the one time after their mother had died they found a secret compartment in the wall of their kitchen, and inside that wall was a jar full of cookies. He remembers those words of his sister crystal clearly, both him and Al were memorized by the compartment (that and the cookies). 

He chuckled at the memory, but those words glued to his mind.

_**“Everyone has secrets, as long as you know where to look.”** _

_“She’s right.”_ He told himself. _“Everyone has secrets, that’s just a common fact, so think Elric, what’s the soldiers’ secrets? What’s the Major’s secret? They can’t just be nervous without an explanation.”_

He pursed his lips together and kept walking, getting an idea as his amber eyes searched the hallways. He eventually found the room he was looking for, and that was Major Dunwick’s office. _“Bingo.”_

He noticed that there was no light coming from under the door, and double check that nobody was around before entering. He closed the door as quietly as he could, before taking in the room. It was nothing but an office. However, Ed knows deep down that there’s something in here. He starts searching around, eyes adjusting to working in the dark quickly, looking under couches and in book shelves for anything that’ll give him a sign. 

_“Nothing. It just looks like a normal office for a soldier.”_ Ed was about to give up hope before he stepped on something that was uneven compared to the ground. _“What the hell?”_ He looked down and ran his foot over the spot, feeling a bump. Being curious, he kneeled down and felt around the short carpet, before finding a small keyhole. _“A keyhole? Why’s it on the ground?”_

The turning of the doorknob made Ed’s heart sink to his stomach, as he dove behind the Major’s desk out of desperation. He swallowed hard, and mentally cursed because…. How the hell was he supposed to explain this? Especially since he was in one of the _worst_ hiding spots ever. He heard someone come in and close the door quietly too, which he found rather odd, and whoever this was didn’t bother turning the lights on either.

“I know you’re in here, Major Elric.” 

The teen perked up at the voice, recognizing it as someone other than Dunwick’s. Without really thinking, he stood up from his hiding spot, glaring a bit at the soldier. “How’d you know, Private… um…” 

The slender build of the timid soldier looked a bit surprised when the higher up was asking for his name. “Oh… I’m Private Daniel Longing, sir.” 

“Okay then, _Daniel,_ how’d you know it was me? Were you following me?” 

Daniel looked a bit ashamed of himself as he nodded slowly. “Yes. I’m sorry, but I did, sir. It was never my intention though, I just saw you looking around a lot and thought you needed help locating something; But then I saw you enter here and got curious.”

Ed raised an eyebrow, being skeptical at the boy. “And you _didn’t_ report me?” 

“Why would I report you? I don’t even know what you’re doing.” Daniel then looked a bit frightful, almost looking like a puppy that just got kicked. “Un-unless I was supposed to, sir.”

“First of all, stop calling me ‘sir’. I don’t like being called that.” Ed replies, bluntly.

Daniel then looked confused. “Then what do I call you? Major?”

Ed shakes his head, he didn’t really want to be tied to military titles right now. “Just call me Ed, or even Elric’s fine.”

“Oh… okay. Whatever you want me to do, Elric.”

Ed frowned a bit at the way Daniel spoke. “Did you just come out of the academy?” 

He looked surprised again. “How’d you know?”

“The way you’re talking, and your body language just screams that you’re new at this. You’re also trying too hard to get the higher ups to like you.”

“Oh… I never noticed. Sorry.”

_“It’s like the military brainwashes these poor people. I almost feel bad.”_ Ed thought, as a lightbulb went off in his head.

“Say, you like to follow orders right?” The teen asked, already knowing the answer to that obvious question.

Daniel straightened up, trying to look more professional. “Yes. I do, Elric.”

“Okay then, can you tell me what the keyhole in the ground is for?” He walked over and pointed to the covered up keyhole with his foot, and he watched as Daniel’s gray eyes widened.

“Ke-keyhole?”

“This is the first story of the building, which means this either leads to a basement or an underground tunnel, which makes me think this is how the soldiers here smuggle kids in to give to the Shadow Crawlers.”

Daniel flinched. “How do you…. How do you know about that?” 

Ed smirked, his theory being right. “So I was correct, this leads to an underground base for that sex slave group. I knew it. So fuss up, Private Longing, how do I get down there?” Before he could even react, the young soldier latched onto the front of his shirt, looking scared for his life.

“Please…” Daniel begins, begging with the shakiness in his voice. “Please, I can’t tell you! They’ll take my sister away!”

Ed stared at him in shock. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I never knew about this when I got assigned here, I kind of just stumbled across it, but I got scared and decided to tell the Central Commands about it. However, the soldiers here stopped me and forced me to stay quiet, or else they’ll take and sell my little sister to these monsters!!  
“So please, I can’t tell you! My sister’s all that I have left, and these soldiers are better trained in Ghost ops then I am, I wouldn’t even notice if they did! You have to understand! I can’t lose her!”

Ed watched as the soldier shook with fear, and was on the verge of tears at the thought of his sister being sold to the monstrous group. Ed gave him a look of pity. “Listen, I’m in a similar situation too.” 

Daniel looked confused. “Huh?”

“My big sister got taken by this group a few years ago, I haven’t found her since. However, I heard she might be here, or atleast was here, and I need to know.” He frowns and looks at him with pleading eyes of his own. “So please, I’m asking _you_ now to help _me._ I need to get down there and take a look, I need to know what’s going on, and most importantly, I need to know if my sister’s alive. Help me.”

Daniel looked torn between what he should do, as he hung his head low and tightened his grip a bit, thinking. He eventually sighed, and let go. “Major Dunwick keeps a key in his desk.” He replies, walking towards the desk.

“You’re actually going to help me?” Ed asked, silently grateful for what the Private’s doing.

“Yes. I can tell you’re not lying to get me to help you, so I know you truly do have a sister who needs saving.” He opened one of the drawers, and pulled out a key. “This will lead to the tunnels underground.”

“So they are tunnels?” Ed watched Daniel kneel next to the keyhole, placing the key in it.

“Yes. I know they’ll lead to a warehouse just outside the city, but that’s all I know.” He turns the key with a small click and stands up. He then pulls the desk chair out of the way before pushing on the desk itself, rotating it so that’ll open up the secret entrance to the tunnels below. “There you go.”

Ed stared in awe, seeing the set of stairs that disappeared in the darkness below. “You said this leads to a warehouse, correct?”

“That’s what I’ve heard, I’ve actually never been down there before.” Daniel said, honestly.

Ed eyed the stairs before looking back at the soldier. “Thanks. I’ll make sure once I expose this group, you and your sister will be safe.”

Daniel gasps. “Seriously? You’re not going to throw me under with them?”

“No way. They threaten you with your own flesh and blood, and let me tell you, when the court hears about this, they’ll go ballistic.” Ed gives a small, but rare, comforting smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your sister’s safe.”

Daniel looked like he was about to cry. “Thank you, Elric. Except I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to my boss when he notices you’re gone.” 

“Just tell him left because I was not feeling well, and you can tell that to my commanding officer too, it’s a codeword we have for ‘Meet me back at the hotel’ in case we found something.”

He nods. “Understood.”

“Thanks again, Private.” He went to take a step-

“Um, Elric?” 

“Yeah?”

“Careful down there. I also heard that the tunnel might connect to the sewers at some point, and they’re old. So… be careful.”

“Understood.” Ed continued walking down the stairs, hearing the door being closed above him as he tried to adjust his eyes again in the dark. The sudden musty smell told him he really was in the sewers. “Figures.”

Even in the dark, he could see that the tunnel only went one direction, so he followed it, keeping his guard up while thinking, _“The Colonel’s going to kill me.”_

He ignored the smell and tiny steam of murky water next to his feet as he made the long trek down the tunnel. He didn’t even know how long he was walking for, hours maybe? Maybe it was only just a few minutes and the darkness was messing with his head. Yeah… that could be it. He suddenly stopped when the tunnel split into two, cursing. Where was he supposed to go now? The one that kept going straight and even more into darkness? Or the one on his right that was making the weird clinking sound? Or should he-

Wait. 

Clinking sound?

Ed drew his attention back to the right tunnel, hearing the weird sound getting louder and louder as it grew closer. Fearing it might be a soldier, he quickly got into a fighting stance, ready to go head-to-head if he has too. 

Clink. Clink. Clink.

It was also a bit squeaky too, almost like when his gears needed to be oil. Did this soldier have automail too? He even noticed something shiny coming too, as he shifted his stance, ready to pounce. 

“Brother?” It whispered harshly, stepping into his view.

Ed lowered his fists at the suit of armor. “Oh, Al. It’s just you.” 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine. Wait, what are you doing down here?”

“Oh, right. I was walking around town like we planned, but I didn’t see anything and it was starting to get dark. I was heading back to the hotel when I spotted two Military men going through a manhole, which I thought was odd, so I followed. I might have lost them. It took me a while to fit through the hole.”

“You saw two military men going down here? So this really is connected to the military.” 

Al titled his armor head a bit, curious. “Where’d you come from, brother? The base?”

Ed nods. “Yeah, There was a secret passage I found that led here.” He points to the way he came. “A Private’s heading out to tell the Colonel and the others our codeword.”

Al tensed a bit. “Wait. You told someone about this?”

“Sort of, but he can be trusted. Let’s just say, long story short, the base’s leader is threatening him with his sister to keep quiet.” Ed frowns, and clenches his fists at the thought of it.

“That’s horrible. I can’t believe they would do that.”

“Which is why we have to expose this group as soon as we can.”

It was Al’s turn to nod in agreement. “Right.”

“Since you came from that tunnel, and I came from the other, we only have one option left.” 

The brothers looked at their only option, and wasted no time to get a move on. “I hope this doesn’t split ahead again.” Al replies.

It didn’t, and they ended up climbing a ladder that led to a trap door above. Once they opened it, they knew they were in the warehouse that Private Longing was talking about. They looked around, noticing that the warehouse was semi-wide open, still having closed off spaces which they assumed were rooms.

“This place is empty.” Ed replies, looking around.

“Yeah. And the lights are all off too, it looks like this place has been abandoned for a while.” Al adds, a bit eerie about all this.

“Stay on your toes, Al. We don’t know if those soldiers you saw are here or not.” 

“Right.”

Seeing there was nothing in the wide open area, they headed towards the closed off one, finding that they were rooms. They glanced at each other, both feeling unwell about all this. 

“Something’s not right, but we need to check all the rooms though.” Ed replies, whispering.

“Understood. I’ll check the ones on the right, if you check the ones on the left.” Al says, using the same low tone.

“Okay. Careful, and watched for the soldiers.”

“You too.”

Ed watched him leave first before heading off himself. He wandered into each room, each one making him sick. They had either chains or cages, or even dog crates placed in the room, and his mind wandered to the picture he found in Ross' house of his sister. He got chills seeing her in chains and a dog muzzle on, and realized _this_ is the kind of place his sister was in. He felt his blood boil, he was going to make these people pay. Eventually, he went through all the rooms and the last one even had a bed in it making him sick.

_“Don’t tell me they did it here? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”_ Now he really wanted to tear these people to part. 

He sighed at the signs of no life here, realizing that the kids might have been moved. Well, at least he’s got some evidence now to make a case. He should be happy, but he still felt saddened that she wasn’t here. _“I guess I should get, Al.”_

He turned around, and immediately dodged a blow to his head. He yelped, backing a few feet up to see who his attacker was. A figure he could barely make out because it was dressed up in all black, and was wearing a hood and bandana to cover their face. Ed tensed up a bit at the way the attacker toward the bo staff it had. 

_“This doesn’t look like a soldier. Who is this guy?”_

Before he could react, the attacker came at full speed, twirling and swinging it's staff. Ed either dodged or blocked it with his automail arm, taking some steps back. Soon, he saw an opening and kicked his attacker in the chest with his metal leg. The attacker winced, holding it’s chest in an interesting way. 

Ed eyes the attacker weirdly. _“Wait a minute… the way that guy’s gripping its chest, it’s…”_ He mentally gasps. _“This guy’s not even a guy, it’s a woman!”_

Soon the attacker seemed to get over having the wind knocked out of her, and came running back over towards the blonde. The teen put up his fists, ready to attack and didn’t see what was coming next. The attacker slid under his legs, standing up at a fast pace before choking him with her staff from behind. Ed hissed at the weapon against his throat, hands trying to pry it off. 

_“I can’t lose consciousness now. God damn it!”_ He mentally scolded himself.

As best as he could, Ed shifted his head a bit to give her a cold glare that could scare anyone dead. “I-I don’t c-care if you're a girl… I’m n-not letting y-you b-beat me…” He hissed, watching her tense up a bit.

Heavy footsteps arrived, and stopped in the room. “Brother!!” Al yelled, seeing his sibling in that terrible state. 

Soon, the girl’s grip loosened unknowingly as she stared at Al, and Ed used that as an opportunity to elbow her hard in the face. Then, he grabbed the staff and hit her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. 

“Told you I wouldn’t let you beat me.” Ed replies, throwing the staff to the side. 

“Brother! Are you okay?” Al asked worriedly, coming up next to him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just ran into thi-”

“That armor….” They heard the girl said, turning their attention to her. She was starting to sit up, a hand tugging on her bandana. “That… that’s my father’s antique armor.”

And she pulled her mask down, staring straight as the two boys just as her hood fell down too. They froze, staring face-to-face with a woman with chestnut hair and emerald eyes. Ed took in shaky breath as Al’s armor shook with shock as she continued to stare at them with a bit of uncertainty. 

“No way…” She says, her eyes falling onto Ed. “Ed… Edward?”

Ed felt his knees grow weak, but managed to stay upright as his eyes began to water. “Lay… Layla?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	5. A Sweet Reunion With A Bitter Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Elrics hide in the woods, Layla reveals what happened to her in the five years she was presumed to be dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: Mentions of Non-Con and suicide. Read at your own risk.**

_“Was this real?”_

The brothers asked themselves. 

_“Was this real? Is she real?”_

The brothers asked themselves.

On the warm night of early May, just weeks of mourning on her birthday, Al’s armor shook slightly, and Ed’s knees wobbled as they both stared at the one girl that they miss dearly.

For five long years they never would have dreamed of this moment. It was a moment that took their breaths away, and brought tears to their eyes. 

It was their sister. Their big sister. In the flesh and not some horrible prank or hallucination. It was _her,_ no doubt. They could never forget that silky soft hair that was the same color as coco, or those bright green eyes that even stood out on a grassy field of Resembool. The same plump nose and sun kissed skin. It was her. It was Layla, no doubt coming to mind. 

So all they could do now was gawk at her like a couple of fishes out of water. Mouths opened in tiny ‘O’s and eyes that nearly popped out of their heads. 

It was her. She was real. She confirmed it even more when she spoke the eldest name and wondered why their father’s antique armor was just walking around and not at home like she thought.

All they could do was stare as their words got twisted up and faded away. What could they say? They weren’t sure what, until Ed muttered her name in disbelief. 

“Lay… Layla?” He croaked, feeling his eyes glass over with tears that haven’t fallen quite yet.

Her own eyes widened, as she quietly gasps, slowly standing up. She took a shaky stepped forward, baby steps of uncertainty until she was right in front of him. Ed immediately looked up, noticing that they were close in height as she took him all in. Every feature of his face was not overlooked as Ed prayed that she would remember him. 

She soon reaches to cup his cheek with her shaky hand, her warm hand that was still embedded in his mind. She soon gave a small chuckle, and a smile.

“E-Ed?” She choked, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Is that really you?” He didn’t use his words because they would come out, so instead he let himself nod his head ‘yes’. She chuckles again. “Edward!”

Layla launched herself around him, engulfing him a tight but comforting grip. She lets the tears fall, and Ed couldn’t help but follow her lead. He sobbed a bit, almost feeling like all this could be just a dream, and would vanish in an instant if he woke himself up.

“I c-can’t believe it, it’s r-really you.” He said, feeling her shake (or maybe he was the one shaking so uncontrollably). 

“It is. It really is me, Ed.” Layla replies, giving him a tight squeeze before pulling back to cup his face. “I can’t believe you’re here. I never thought I would get to see you again.” She gives a sad laugh while stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. “Please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

Ed copies her laugh. “I hope n-not.”

She hums, agreeing with her brother. Soon, her eyes trailed to another person present in the room who was still staring in a stunned state. 

Ed suddenly froze. _“Oh no. She doesn’t know that’s Al. She didn’t see his body get ripped away that night. Oh no….”_ Feeling a twinge of horror at what might happen next, Ed reached out and placed his hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Layla, listen, that’s-”

“There’s only one person who would call Ed ‘Brother’....” She replies, ignoring him as she gives the young boy a kind smile. “Is that you, _Al?”_

Alphonse gasps, tensing up in surprise. Hearing his name being said made him want to cry. His sister recognized _him._ She recognized him even with the fake body he had. He wanted to cry, but couldn’t. Luckily Edward was all over that, as he caught a glimpse of him crying behind the brunette. 

“You… you recognize me?” Al asked, in the voice of the child he was. 

She smiled brightly at him. So warm and bubbly just like he remembers. “Of course I do. You’re my brother, I’ll always recognize you.” Layla replies, touching the side of his helmet. “Oh, Al. What happened to you that night?”

The two brothers tensed up at her words. Was she really referring to _that_ night? 

“W-what?” Ed stuttered in disbelief. 

Suddenly a giant crash was heard, coming from somewhere in the warehouse. The Elrics jumped at the sound as they swore they heard voices too. 

“Shit. I didn’t think there was anyone else here.” Layla replies, worriedly.

“Well Al told me he saw two soldiers coming down the tunnel below.” Ed said, just as his sister’s face looked scared. “Layla?”

“We have to go.” She replies, swiping her staff off the ground, before sliding her mask and hood back on. “Come on! We’ll be fucked if we get captured.”

She took off, and the brothers wasted no time to chase after her. They flew down the hallway, running past the sickening dog crates and chains in each room, heading for the hidden door-

“Freeze!” They heard a gun cock, and two men stood behind them. “Drop your weapon and raise those hands!”

“Shit….” Ed whispers, all three of them standing still.

“What do we do?” Al asks, scared.

“DROP YOUR WEAPON AND RAISE THOSE HANDS!!” They yelled again, making them flench.

“Just do it.” Layla replies, calmly. 

Both brothers looked at her strangely, wondering how she was so calm after being held at gunpoint. “Layla?” Al said, confused.

“Just do it. But when I say run, you guys run for the door.” 

“Layla-” Ed begins, not liking where this was going.

“Boys. You’ve got to trust me.”

The brothers gave each other worried glances, just as the two men screamed at them again to comply, which they did. The Elrics raised their hands, and Layla dropped the weapon she was holding, it clattering to the floor.

“Good. Now turn around, slowly. No tricks.” The soldier said, malic in his voice.

They complied again, turning around slowly with their hands up-

She drops to the ground so fast, it stuns them all as she pressed her palms together, slamming them into the cold, dirt covered ground. Familiar alchemy light shined upon the area, where a wall shot up and blocked the soldiers’ path. Gun shots could be heard on the other side, along with frustrated cries.

“That should hold them.” Layla says, standing up with a satisfied look. 

Her brothers were baffled by the sight, wide eyes that almost popped out of their heads. 

“Whoa, you can do alchemy?!” Al said, amazed by his big sis. “Since when can you do that? You’ve never done alchemy before.”

She chuckles. “I promise I’ll explain later, but we need to get out of here before anyone else shows up. This place is always crawling with soldiers.” Both her and Al turned to move, but was stopped by the middle child.

“Wait.” Ed replies, halting them.

“What is it, brother?” Al asked, watching his concerned expression.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go through the tunnel.”

Layla raised an eyebrow. “Why not? Didn’t you say that’s where you came from?”

“I did.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Ed frowns, remembering where he came from. He couldn’t possibly go back to the Ghost ops’ base with his sister, especially after everything they’ve done to her. Besides that, he wasn’t ready to face the wrath of Mustang just yet; He needed to understand what was truly going on with Layla first. 

“We can’t. That tunnel leads to a military base in the city, it’ll be stupid if we went straight towards them.” He replies, truthfully.

Al perks up, nodding his head. “Oh, yeah. He’s right about that.”

Layla’s face looked a bit pale as she stared at her brother with a concerning look. “How do you know that?” She asked, sounding scared.

Now it was Ed’s turn to grow pale. He almost forgot that she doesn’t know what he and Al have been doing all these years since the taboo. “Oh… well…”

“Ed. How do you know that? Please tell me you’re not a victim yourself.”

He shakes his head. “No! Of course not! It’s just…”

She frowns more, her chest tightening at what it could be. “Just what, Ed? How do you know that?” 

He looks away for a split second, kind of like when a mother caught her child in a lie, or in that case, his sister. But there was no way he could lie, not after all these years of seeing her, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

“I work for the military.” He stated, watching her pale even more and her pupils shrink.

“What?” She said in a near whisper that almost couldn’t be heard. She even looks like she might start crying again. Ed hated making her feel this way, his heart hurting when looking at her expression of betrayal.

“Layla-”

“We should go.” Al cuts it, grabbing her gently by the shoulders. “We’ll both explain later, but you said it yourself, we need to get going.” 

Hesitant, but Layla nods anyway. “Okay. If we’re not going through the tunnel, we’ll go through the back door, we’ll head into the woods for some cover.” She replies, gesturing for them to follow. 

They soon ran out into the night, following her as she ran up a wall around the base and hopped over, running straight into the forest. Al gave Ed a boost before climbing over himself, keeping their eyes trained on their sister as they swerved around the trees, blending in for cover. Soon they slowed down, panting at how fast they went, trying to calm their hyperactive lungs.

“That was close.” Al said, patting his brother’s hunched back, making sure he was getting air. 

“Y-yeah. No shit.” Ed replies, trying to stand straight. 

“Alright boys, I want an explanation.” Layla says, catching their attention. “Let’s do an equivalent exchange. You tell me what you’ve been up to over the years, and I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to. How’s that sound?”

The brothers glanced at each other, before nodding ‘yes’.

***Break***

The small fire they started reflected off their eyes and Al’s armor perfectly, as they sat on a log they had found, hidden from sight by the grand forest. Ed threw a few twigs in, as his brother poked the fire, letting it shine a bit brighter. After it was done, both boys faced their sister, still a crumb of disbelief in their minds. 

“I still can’t believe it…” Ed croaked, trying to stay strong for all of them. “You’re alive.”

She smiles softly. “I know. It’s been so long…” 

“Five years if you want to be exact.” Al adds, quietly.

“Five years, huh? That’s a lot.” Her face falls, as she hugs herself. “I… I left you two alone for five years…”

Ed frowns too, sensing the guilt that shines off her. “Layla-”

“I thought you were dead.” She squeezed herself tighter as she stared into the fire. “I thought… I thought _both of you_ were dead.”

“What?”

“What makes you think you were dead?” Al asks, equally confused as Ed. “Was it the night of the taboo?”

“Taboo?” Layla asked, raising her head slightly.

“The taboo is what we referred to as Human transmutation. It’s what… you walked in what me and Al were doing we came home from Dublith.” Ed replies, images of that night flashing before him, making a chill run up his spin.

“So that’s what you two were doing. I thought so.” 

Both brothers perked up at the news. 

“You did?” Al said, once again surprised by her actions.

“Hold on a second, are you telling me you actually know about alchemy?” Ed asked, intrigued. “How? You never seemed interested in it when we were younger.”

She stayed silent for a moment, eyes trailing back to the fire. “I never intended to, until… well.” She ends up sighing. “I-I guess I should start from the beginning. I need to explain everything to you two.”

“Hang on, sis. Are you sure you want to start?” The prodigy alchemist placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, concern coming through the cracks in his voice.

“Why wouldn’t I? You deserve an answer.”

“We do want an answer, but you-” Al begins, trying to find the right words at this delicate moment. Luckily Ed knew what to say.

“What Al’s trying to say is, what you’ve been through over the years, it’s probably worse then what we’ve been through.” Ed says, confidently.

“You guys… I’m not sure about that.” Layla says, shaking her head.

“Well I do. Look, after what happened that night, both me and Al got some hope. But with you,... I kind of already know what you’ve been through. At least I think I do.” 

“We want you to tell us, Layla. However, if it’s too much to handle, then maybe you should let us go first.” Al chimes in.

She shakes her head, smiling just a bit at how gentle they were being with her. “Thank you, but I’ll go first. I need to tell you where I’ve been, and why I’m-” She points at the clothes she was wearing. “Dress like this. Dress for a fight.”

She sure looked like she was a fighter, or at least a stealthy one that is (Even Ed didn’t hear her when she came up from behind). Layla wore all black, a black hoodie, pants, boots, a mask. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she wore fingerless dark gray gloves for better gripping (and to get rid of her sweaty palms during battle). She even had a large scar just under her right eye that was surely permanent. She would look scary/badass in most people’s eyes.

Both Al and Ed shifted their stances, ready to listen and to finally learn what had happened in those five years they thought she was gone.

“Okay. We’re all ears.” Fullmetal said, bracing himself for the truth.

She sighs, glancing at both of them before finding the ground a better place to look. She wasn’t quite ready to look at them in the eyes yet. “Where do I begin? That night was so crazy, but I remember it so vividly. I remember everything.” Layla shutters at the thought. “You guys told me you were coming back home the day after, so I decided I wanted to surprise you both, so I came home early.” She chuckles sadly. “I guess you guys had the same idea as me, right?”

The brothers nod, recalling their plans from five years ago. “We were going to surprise you too.” Al said, a bit of shame in the way he said it.

“Yeah? Well, they say great minds think alike. Guess we both wanted to see each other again.” Layla lips curled up for just a split second when she said that. “Anyway, when I came home I heard noise from the basement, and the ground started to shake. It scared me even more when I saw a weird light coming from under the basement door. I ran downstairs, and that’s when I saw the both of you….”

_**“Ed, Al?”** _

_**They both turned to face the girl, her face was embedded into their minds forever. The look of fear and something else would haunt them along with what look like tears in her eyes.** _

_**“What are you doing?!” She yelled, sounding almost betrayed.** _

The memory haunted their minds, glued to it and sewed in every nook and cranny. Horrifying to the three young teens. 

Layla continued, her voice getting a bit shaky. “You two looked at me, and before I could say anymore, Y-you… you screamed s-so loud Ed. Then all I saw was Al be-being ripped apart by these… hands…”

_**“What? A rebound?” He muttered.** _

_**“Brother!!” Al screamed, making him look up.** _

_**He was reaching and calling for him as tiny black hands were ripping him apart. He heard someone running and calling for them from behind, but it didn’t matter, he needed to get to his baby brother. He screamed his name, before a bright white light engulfed him.** _

“I ran towards you two, but a bright light knocked me over, sending me into the wall behind. But before I fainted, One of those arms reached into my chest and I felt it grab something… I think I screamed. I couldn’t remember, I just blacked out afterwards.” Her face twisted with pain, as she shivered at what came next. “When I woke up, I was in this room, painted in all white.”

The brothers tensed up, both gasping. “You were in the gate? You actually saw it that night?” Ed asked, in disbelief.

Layla nods. “I did. At the time I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t even understand what you and Al did that night. I felt so confused, I started to wonder if I just hit my head too hard, until I heard someone speak.” 

“Truth.” Was all Al said. He was surely surprised that his sister saw it straight away, because it took him years afterwards to remember the gate and gain the unique alchemy like his brother and teacher.

“Yes, That’s what _it_ called itself.” She sounded scared but there was also anger under it for some odd reason. “I started asking questions, I didn’t know what was going or where I was. That all changed when the doors behind me opened, the tiny hands and a disturbing eye appeared, pulling me into it. From there, all this information was poured into my head, it honestly was way too much, I thought my head was going to split open. But I swear… I swear I heard and saw mom. She was reaching for me, as I was reaching for her as well.”

“That’s strange. You weren’t even doing the taboo with us and you still ended up seeing her like we did.” Ed said, wondering how his sister got roped into that.

“Maybe it’s because she still lost something too? That could be it.” Al pointed out.

“Yeah, That’s a good theory.”

“What happened next, Layla?”

Her head became etched with worried lines, her lip quivered just a bit as she still continued on. “Suddenly I was standing back at the gate, honestly quite shaken by it all. I think I even screamed at Truth to let me go. But it laughed and said, 

_‘You can’t go yet, you still haven’t paid the toll yet.’_

“Before you know it, Truth stuck it’s hand in my chest, pulling something out. I remember I was stunned, choking on the blood in my throat, coughing it on the ground as it showed me my heart. It chuckled again, and I watched the organ stop beating before he placed it back in my chest. The gate behind me opened again, and then I black out once more.” She caught the sight of her brothers, who looked ready to hurl over and puke. She immediately is overcome with guilt. “If this is too graphic, I’ll stop.”

Ed shook his head. “No. I’m used to hearing and seeing graphic things. But coming from someone I care about… it hurts a lot.”

“Ed, I’ll stop.”

“No. Keep going. I need to know what happened.”

“Please, sis. We want to understand.” Al urges, his soul eyes looked like they were pleading for her to go. 

Hesitant again, but keeps going for her brothers’ sake. “Okay… what was next?” She thinks before snapping her fingers. “Oh, yes. This part is a bit blurry, I don’t remember it very well, but I do remember I woke up covered in dirt.”

_“The grave!”_ The boys thought, realizing she was actually _buried_ alive.

“Um… Layla…” Al croaks, her eyes meeting his. “That was our bad. We made you a grave.”

She looks surprised. “A grave?”

“We thought you were dead, Layla.” Ed answers, his voice just above a whisper. He looks like he might cry again, feeling like he was at fault here. “I came over to you and found no pulse. We thought you were dead for sure.”

Her face softens, almost amused by her missing pulse. “I still don’t.” She tugs her sleeves up her forearm, holding her wrist out for him. “Want to see?”

His eyes widened with curiosity, using his flesh hand to touch. And she was right, he felt no beat against his fingers, yet she was still alive and breathing without. “That’s insane! I didn’t think this could be possible.”

“Looks like your theory was right, brother.” Al replies, earning a puzzled stare from his sister.

“Theory?” She asked, holding out her other arm for Al to feel (but he declined politely. It’s not like he could feel it anyway).

“Brother came up with a theory about what you might have lost. We’ll tell you more about it later.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

“So wait, did you dig yourself out?” Ed asked, still a bit stunned with a girl with no pulse.

“I did.” Layla replies, touching the left side of her chest. “It wasn’t that deep, and it was raining a bit too, so it was a little bit easier. But… I was so dizzy, and my chest ached. At the time, I didn’t know what really happened in the gate, I still thought it was some kind of fever dream. I remember thinking I needed to get home, and I ended up heading towards the road.  
“Unfortunately, I didn’t make it very far. I recall coughing up blood before tumbling over, and I saw someone’s face hovering over mine just as I black out again. When I woke up again, I found myself tied up in a crate with a couple other girls.”

Both brothers gasp, pupils shrinking again. “Layla, were you-?” Al begins, unease.

She stayed silent, before nodding extremely slow. “I was picked up by a man who was part of a sex slave group, dubbed the ‘Shadow Crawlers’.”

Her voice sounded so fragile and small that it took a knife to each brothers’ heart. It wasn’t right. She was supposed to be boisterous and bubbly, kind-hearted and sweet, headstrong and temperamental; She was supposed to be like that, not this, not this fragile and broken girl in front of them who was trying so hard not to cry and stay strong inside. She shouldn’t have to sound _so_ vulnerable. 

_“So… It really was you in that picture that General Ross had. You really were taken by the group.”_ Ed’s hands clenched together tightly, anger spiking through his body. _“Layla, you didn’t deserve that. Nobody does.”_

His angry gold eyes met the soul colored red ones of Al’s, and even though the youngest couldn’t make any facial expression, Ed knew exactly what he was thinking. They wasted no time to wrap their arms around her, sandwiching her between them. They felt her stiffen slightly, and they immediately wondered if they overstepped a boundary. For so long her body was used without consent, and got touched by strangers she never met before, so they shouldn’t be surprised that she would be a little jumpy. 

It broke their hearts once more because they still remember that their big sister was a very affectionate person, so seeing her jump from a simple hug hurt them greatly. They made a move to leave, but she latched onto them too and started to ball. She wailed quite a bit, burying her face in their arms.

“Let it out, Layla. It’s okay to cry.” Al’s soft voice spoke, providing her with reassurance. 

“We’re here for you, sis. You don’t have to hold it in, you're safe.” Ed adds, feeling a few droplets fall onto him.

They stayed like this for who knows how long, but it didn’t matter because she needed this. She probably needed this more than they do. She sniffled, and her croaking voice came through.

“I-I was held there for a y-year.” Layla replies, quietly. “I was taken all over Amestris, used till I couldn’t walk the next day. Even military soldiers used me when they got bored at their post.”  
Both Ed and Al sent telepathic death threats at Ross and anybody else that touched their sister in a disgusting way. “One day, I got a small case of pneumonia, and the group’s leader sent a doctor for me, and that’s the day I finally discovered what Truth took from me. I still remember the look on that guy’s face when he couldn’t find a pulse on me. I had no heartbeat, and I still didn’t completely understand why though, all I knew was that the Truth had something to do with it.  
“As my memories of that night kept coming in more crystal clear, I also discovered a gift, I could use alchemy without a circle. From that moment, I planned my escape, and I left those monsters and ran for my life.”

“So you escape all on your own?” Ed says, stunned. “That’s impressive, especially with everything that happened.” He tried to lighten the mood and it seemed to work.

Layla smiles proudly. “Well, what can I say? I have my moments of being a badass.”

“But if you escaped after being only there only for a year, where did you go for those other four years?” Al asked, hoping he wasn’t being too pushy. 

Her smile faded, and turned back into sadness. “I went home. I went back to Resembool to see you guys. However…. I came home to find out our house was burned down.” She squeezed tighter. “I thought you two were _inside._ I swear I thought you two were dead… I thought I was too late to see you both again.”

“Layla…” Ed managed to croak with guilt. He was the one who wanted to burn the house down in the first place, to never look back, and unknowingly he caused his sister pain, _again._

“I… I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to give up on life… but… I needed to do one thing before I gave up.” Her voice turned back into the confident girl she is, a fire in her belly. “I decided that I wanted to go help all the children that were trapped in the ring, and I immediately started training myself. I got my hands on some martial art books, I even started studying alchemy to help achieve my goals.  
“I went completely off the grid, I stayed hidden and would only come out to free the kids. I knew exactly where the group would go, and it only got easier as the time went on. And that’s what I’ve been doing for four years now.”

“Layla…” Ed said again, both him and Al pulling away. He looked up at her with a look of fear in his golden orbs. “Were you… were you going to to kill yourself?”

Her eyes held shame, as she nodded for the millionth time. “Ed, I had no one, at least I didn’t think I did. You two were like my whole world, and I didn’t even want to think about a day without you two. I didn't even want to face Granny, or Winry. I didn’t even want to find our dad…I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain to anyone I was still alive after all this time. I was so lost, and heartbroken. Me fighting was the only way I could feel… normal.”

“So all this time, you were fighting bad people just like me and brother were.” Al says, after thinking her story over. “The only reason we never crossed paths was because we stayed in the spotlight, while you stayed in the shadows.”

“You guys were fighting as well? Is that part of your _military_ training?” 

There was venom when she said that word, and Ed could see why she was so angry earlier when he told her that he was now a soldier. Being used by other soldiers probably tainted the way she looked at the country’s military.

“So I guess you want an explanation?” Ed asked, already knowing the answer. 

“Of course. I want to know what happened to you two in those five years.” She says.

Both him and Al exchanged glances before moving on with their version of the story. “I guess we’ll start from the beginning too.” He takes a deep breath. “Do you remember when we told you that we wanted to study alchemy with that woman in Dublith?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… we had a hidden motive. We didn’t want to just learn alchemy to learn alchemy, we did it to bring mom back to life.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “So I was right, you guys did do human transmutation that night, didn’t you?”

“Correct.”

“Huh. I remember reading about that in the book I found about alchemy. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that’s what you guys were doing, but it explains why I lost my heartbeat. It was all just an equivalent exchange deal.”

Ed’s face fell, guilt creeping back. “Well… _I wanted_ to bring mom back. I just talked Al into doing it.” He replies, shamefully. 

“Brother, you know that's not true.” Al cuts in.

“But it is. Face it Al, you were always hesitant to do so. And-” He looks at the brunette. “I just wanted you to have a break. I thought by bringing mom back, you could at least enjoy the childhood that was striped away so early.”

She looked surprised, her shoulders slumping. “Ed.” She muttered, quietly. 

The blonde ended up looking down at his feet, the night of the taboo coming back together. “We came home early just like you did, and we wanted to surprise you with our mother. It didn’t go as planned, and we all ended up losing something in return just like you did.”  
He rolls up his left pant leg, getting a small shriek from his sister. “I lost my leg-” He then rolls up his right sleeve. “And my arm. I exchange it to get Al souls back from the gate.”

Layla raised an eyebrow, her eyes glued to the artificial limbs. “Al’s soul?” 

“I lost my body.” The kid in the armor said, tapping her shoulder to get her attention. He then pulls off his helmet, bending over to show off that he was hollow inside. Another gasp from the girl as he points to the symbol drawn in red. “It’s a blood seal, Ed drew it and put my soul into the armor.”

Layla had put her hand over her mouth, watching him put his ‘head’ back on. “When I saw you the armor, I knew something must have happened. I wouldn’t have ever guessed you lost your body.” She looks back at Ed. “And you, you lost two limbs? How’d you not die from blood lost?”

Ed stayed quiet so Al answered for him, “After Ed found out that you had no pulse, he tried to call your soul back as well, but he ended up fainting. I grabbed him and took him to the Rockbells, and they saved his life.” He shoulders sagged, as it was his turn to look at the ground.  
“Soon, Granny went back to the house and buried the thing that we made from the taboo, and it was not our mother if you're wondering, quite the opposite. She even buried you in a shallow grave encase we wanted to move you somewhere else, but… we couldn’t bring ourselves too. We’re sorry Layla, we didn’t know you were alive.” 

Layla takes a moment to glance at them both, her chest feeling tight with concern. “You guys…” 

“I was planning on giving up too, you know?” Ed says out of the blue. “Me and Al thought this was it for our lives, We thought we were stuck with the bodies we accidentally made. However, That all changed when a military soldier came to us, came to _me,_ and offered me a deal. He was a state alchemist, so we made an equivalent exchange deal, and it was that I would help him move up in the ranks, and in return he would give me leads on ways to get our bodies back.”

“So… you became a state alchemist? They actually allowed a kid to join?” She asked, with curiosity and concern. 

He nods. “They did. I became a state alchemist known as ‘Fullmetal’, a Major who works under the commandment of Colonel Mustang, the Flame alchemist.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.” She shifted in her seat, looking at her brother with a bit of disbelief. “How old were you?”

“I was eleven when I had the automail surgery, and joined the military when I was twelve. It was risky, I know, but it was the only way me and Al had any chance of getting our bodies back.”

“That's… that’s insane. All this time, you were risking your lives just so you can return to normal.” She perks up at a memory that was still fresh in her mind. “What about the house? Did you know it caught on fire?”

Ed’s lip quivered a bit, his eyebrows furrowing together. “We burned it. We did it so we would have nothing holding us back. It was also a way to burn away all the bad things that were in the house.” 

“You burned it? I...” 

She trailed off as both brothers stayed silent, finding that the ground they were on was more fascinating to look at then their sister. They radiated with guilt and pain that was almost suffocating to anyone in the bubble they were in. 

She sighs quietly, her lip curling up at the corner. “You guys, do you honestly think all _this_ was your fault?” She asked, softly. A tone of voice they didn’t think they deserved, not after everything they’ve done.

“Well yeah, we made a stupid decision to bring mom back.” Al answers, truthfully.

“We deserve to feel like this.” Ed finishes, agreeing with the youngest.

“You guys.” Was all Layla said, before pulling them closer once again. She spoke in the soft voice again, sounding so soft it could be compared to sweet honey. “You boys were just little kids who were just missing their mother, you shouldn’t feel guilty at all. Anybody who would have had that ability would have done it too.” She closes her eyes, taking in the embrace. “If this makes you any better, I don’t blame you for what happened that night. In a matter of fact, I forgive you both.”

Both teen boys stiffened in surprise before completely melting in her touch, feeling a huge wave of guilt get grabbed off their shoulders. She didn’t blame them, and that was the best feeling in the world. Al shook a bit as Ed started crying again, hoping he would have enough tears for the both of them.

“I love you both so much.” Layla said, smiling growing. “I'm glad this wasn’t a dream. I’m glad you too are alive and here with me.”

“We are too.” Al choked, sounding almost like he was sobbing. “I love you, Layla.”

“I love you too. I’m so glad you’re alive.” Ed cried, not letting his pride win this one. He still remembers his teammates telling him it was okay to cry everyone and while, so he’s taking their advice. 

So they stayed like this for quite a while, with no complaints. They found each other once again, and they tend on not letting go for a very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I think that's my longest chapter yet. Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is done! Tell me what you think so far. I'll see you all soon!


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